Those Sneaky Little Eavesdroppers

I have a mild case of ornithophobia. Yes, I have a slight fear of birds. They creep me out. The way they move, their beady little eyes, their razor sharp beaks, and the fact that they eavesdrop. You read that right. Think about all of the information that birds collect, flying around and sitting their looking all innocent. They eavesdrop, for sure.

Tolkien, by contrast, seems to have a deep respect for the feathered feigns. Throughout The Hobbit, birds come to the rescue time and time again. The eagles fly our adventurers out of trouble and I won’t even mention the debt they all owe to the thrush. Tolkien was obviously a fan of birds, I will not hold this against him. The Birds was way before his time, we can’t blame him for his ignorance when it comes to the devious nature of the beasts.